#The handsomest drowned man in the world

[stingrayextraordinaire]

Literature Moodboards // "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" by Gabriel García Márquez

Even the most mistrustful men, the ones who felt the bitterness of endless nights at sea fearing that their women would tire of dreaming about them and begin to dream of drowned men, even they and others who were harder still shuddered in the marrow of their bones at Esteban's sincerity.

[littlesistersti]

Creative final project for a Short Story course. I chose “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I interpreted the story with themes of idolisation and such.

That influenced my process: I chose Markiplier as the “model” because he has a lot of shirtless photos out there so it was an easy find and because he is a major idol \ icon who gets a lot of fawning over. I chose to put a blank spot over the face to represent how everybody has their own sense of “handsomest man in the world” and has their own idols. I could’ve put the words “your idol here” but one, forgot in the rush, and two, thought it would be nicer in a different way to leave it blank. Like that self-portrait with the green apple 🍏. I forgot to clean up the mic wire or whatever it was. I asked the class to guess and my prof thought I might’ve used Jason Mamoa. Honestly, I could’ve because he is very big, a strong icon\idol fawned over, and played a character relating to the sea. Fits the role of Esteban. Don’t know why he escaped me.

Sources of the images used!

Water

Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash

Photo by Noah Usry on Unsplash

Wood

Single log: Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

Many logs: Photo by Ginevra Austine on Unsplash

Photo by Yasemin K. on Unsplash

Shirt

Photo by henri meilhac on Unsplash

Photo by Taisiia Shestopal on Unsplash

Canvas

Photo by Olga Thelavart on Unsplash

Linen

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Flowers

Yellow field: PicsArt photo from @ macmmaya

Red: Photo by Jani-Petteri Tammi on Unsplash

White Daisy: Photo by Linus Belanger on Unsplash

Blue: Photo by Oscar Ivan Esquivel Arteaga on Unsplash

Amber: Photo by Sergio Arteaga on Unsplash

Orchid: Photo by Philip Graves on Unsplash

peony/rose: Photo by Juan Rojas on Unsplash

Bright yellow sticker: weirdly enough, it’s all over PicsArt with many names attached

Other brush tools of flowers

Misc.

Wrist compass: Antik .it CODE 6076A WRIST COMPASS

https://www.antik.it/Antique-compasses/6076A-Wrist-compass/

Scapular: Cedar House

https://cedarhouse.co/premium-brown-scapular-brown-and-cream-our-lady-of-mt-carmel-regular-17in/

Holy water: Fatimayyc Gift Shop

https://www.fatimayycgiftshop.ca/product/holy-water-bottle-4-oz/28

Side note: Linus Belanger has plenty of fantastic photos for any of your “homely” or “cottage core” collages. Giving me small town where there’s a secret society of kid wizards maybe.

[that-geniuss-blog]

Collective Perceptions and Sociocultural Transformations in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

Have you ever contemplated the intricate workings of the human mind, where conscious and subconscious processes interweave to construct elaborate narratives based on the slightest stimuli encountered? These narratives, infused with notions of attractiveness or its absence, possess the power to shape our perception of individuals and incite misunderstandings fueled by unfounded suspicions. Furthermore, they compel us to envision hypothetical reactions if those suspicions were indeed substantiated. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a literary luminary, masterfully captures the essence of human cognition and behavior in his evocative masterpiece, "The Most Handsomest Drowned Man In The World." With deftly crafted prose, complex characters, vivid settings, and poignant events, Marquez artfully illuminates the intricacies of human behavior, offering profound insights that reverberate through the annals of contemporary psychology, where the study of human nature remains a paramount endeavor.

Marquez adeptly employs the isolated coastal village setting as a catalyst for examining the influence of cultural beliefs on the characters' perceptions. The narrator's description of the "unrelenting wind" and the "restless sea" conveys the atmospheric intensity surrounding the drowned man's arrival (Marquez, 1968, p. 2). The extraordinary appearance of the drowned man disrupts the villagers' conventional understanding of physical beauty, thereby challenging their established cultural norms and redefining their values, dispositions, and thoughts.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" explores the transformative potential of collective consciousness. Marquez presents a communal imagination that surpasses individual perspectives, as the entire village becomes captivated by the drowned man's allure. The narrator notes how the villagers embraced the drowned man as an integral part of their lives, even from their earliest years (Marquez, 1968, p. 3). This collective belief in the drowned man's magnificence unifies the villagers, fostering a shared identity that reconfigures their societal fabric, illustrating the profound impact of shared beliefs on collective consciousness.

The characters' experiences within the narrative are deeply influenced by the subversion of societal norms. The drowned man's physical appearance challenges the established beauty standards of the village, prompting introspection and self-questioning among the characters. Marquez writes how "no one had ever seen such a handsome sailor" (Marquez, 1968, p. 2). This encounter compels the villagers to confront their own lives and grapple with the constraints imposed by societal expectations, ultimately leading to personal growth and a collective transformation.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" offers a profound sociological tapestry that highlights the fluidity of societal constructs and the transformative power of collective imagination. Marquez skillfully weaves together the shaping influence of the setting, the potency of shared beliefs, and the subversion of social norms to underscore the profound impact of external forces on individual and communal identities. By engaging with these themes, the narrative invites readers to contemplate the malleability of human perception and the potential for transformative change through the collective reshaping of sociocultural landscapes.

References: Marquez, G. G. (1968). The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. In "Leaf Storm and Other Stories" (pp. 1-7). Harper Perennial.

[not100bees]

You know actually like I haven't probably read enough of it, but in terms of never missing what I've read of it, I think magical realism is probably like the most consistently absolutely great genre. Like my favorite book. Well the favorite book that I tell people because my favorite book is call me by your name but I can't tell people that because some people are really weird about it. So I say the house of the spirits which is my second favorite book. You know my favorite short story The handsomest drowned man in the world.

[thewisaaaaad]

"even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination."- The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World By Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

EXCUSE ME???? HUH??????

DO YOU MEAN THAT THEY ONLY PERCIVE HIM AS PALE ECHOES OF HIS TRUE BEAUTY OR SOMETHING?? HUUUH????

[obituary-discoparty]

i have never really liked poetry in a soul wrenching way but the way i keep thinking about the handsomest drowned man in the world is making me have thoughts about life i didn't know i was capable of

[grrrae]

Dead or Alive: All We Need in Life is a Big Pretty Boy (An Analysis on The Handsomest Drowned Man)

Disclaimer: This post is for a school requirement xoxo

Do you think you’d kiss a dead beautiful man in hopes to bring him back to life? Well, people in Esteban's Village would probably do.

“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is a short story published in a 1972 collection Leaf Storm and Other Stories by the renowned Colombian writer, Gabriel García Márquez. This is a story about acceptance, community, and honoring the dead, ‘The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World’ is one of Márquez’s most powerful stories.

From the feminist point of view, the story reflects the nuance of women’s influence in our society today. This could be because of a few reasons. 

First and most importantly, a woman today would most likely experience what every woman in that village has experienced, which is for them to be seen as lesser beings by the men around them and thus, is expected to be subordinate and submissive by said men. 

More specifically, we should look into the fact that the men in the story also have a tendency to objectify the women around them. Using their imagination to belittle these women and their own aspirations, turning them into statues of ivory upon which the same men would pour their carnal desires out. This reflects on society’s leniency on men who harass and mistreat women, through catcalling, sexual harassment, rape, etc.  

On a more positive note (nitpicky, but positive), we looked into the story’s tendency to break gender based stereotypes. This includes gender based societal roles being broken, like the men sewing and knitting clothes for the drowned man, men being judged for being less compared to the drowned man in physical appearance and them striving to improve themselves . Compare this to our society, where women are more often judged for their physical appearance and are expected to “improve” themselves and for them to strive for “perfection”. 

Another point seen is that the novel shows acceptance of the drowned man’s personhood and the men having a much deeper understanding towards the drowned man, and thus, the women too. This could be compared to our society slowly starting to be more accepting of a woman’s desire to contribute to society as equals to men, earning the same as them, having representatives in politics, and overall being seen as more than just their physical appearance, being seen as equals.

In the beginning of the story,

the women in the village are depicted as being responsible for traditional domestic duties and caretaking roles while the men in the story are portrayed as laborers and providers for the community.

The women are expected to fulfill gender roles associated with nurturing, motherhood, and household chores.  They were also portrayed as being deeply connected to their families and community, as they come together to perform rituals and mourn the drowned man's death.

The men, on the other hand, were portrayed as laborers and providers for the community. They are depicted as performing more physically demanding tasks such as hauling the drowned man out of the sea, constructing a  house for the drowned man, and making plans for his burial. 

The community depicted in the story adheres to traditional gender roles, such as men being in charge of tasks that require physical strength or leadership, whilst the women are responsible for domestic tasks. These gender roles are ingrained into the community, and the characters of the story are shown to rarely deviate from it.

But as the story progresses, the presence of the drowned man challenges and even helps the villagers deviate from these roles. The women, initially shown as submissive and accepting, become so captivated by the drowned man and his charm that they start to question what could have been if they ended up with this man. And more importantly, they start to question what could be. The drowned man’s beauty also puts the men’s own desires and aspirations into question.

The women of the village are shown as curious and even a bit superstitious of the drowned man’s beauty.

They are described as being very fascinated by his handsome features; large size; and immaculate presence, actively participating in the rituals associated with him. Their fantasies represent the power of imagination as they picture a different life for the drowned man, with themselves at the center.

The story does not really show much evidence as to how the women are being treated. To us, it’s what the story doesn’t show that shows how the women of the village were being treated. The story has been shown to largely neglect the perspectives and experiences of every female character. The women in the village are treated as mere spectators, only reacting to the presence of the drowned man.

Conclusion

A. The story reflects the nuance of women’s influence in our society today. From society and its expectations for women to be submissive, to women questioning and breaking said expectations. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World represents society’s shift in its view of what a woman is allowed and not allowed to do. And as the leader of this shift, the Drowned Man represents the rise of economic leverage the women are given. 

B. With the increase in education and political influence women are given, the more they will think about the potential of their lives and rethink what society expects of them. In a similar manner, with the rise of independence women are allowed to have, men need to rethink what they can truly provide to the women that they desire once financial security is not involved.

[baronessblixen]

About Gabriel-- I recommend The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. It's only 5 pages (it's free somewhere on the internet); and its plot reminded me of your type of favorite media. (It didn't help that the drowned man could easily have been Mulder, lol.)

5 pages sounds doable :D Oh? I don't even know what my favorite type of media is, but I'm intrigued! I hope I can find it somewhere.

[cassowary-rapture]

"The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The first children who saw the dark and slinky bulge approaching through the sea let themselves think it was an enemy ship. Then they saw it had no flags or masts and they thought it was a whale. But when it washed up on the beach, they removed the clumps of seaweed, the jellyfish tentacles, and the remains of fish and flotsam, and only then did they see that it was a drowned man.

They had been playing with him all afternoon, burying him in the sand and digging him up again, when someone chanced to see them and spread the alarm in the village. The men who carried him to the nearest house noticed that he weighed more than any dead man they had ever known, almost as much as a horse, and they said to each other that maybe he'd been floating too long and the water had got into his bones. When they laid him on the floor they said he'd been taller than all other men because there was barely enough room for him in the house, but they thought that maybe the ability to keep on growing after death was part of the nature of certain drowned men. He had the smell of the sea about him and only his shape gave one to suppose that it was the corpse of a human being, because the skin was covered with a crust of mud and scales.

They did not even have to clean off his face to know that the dead man was a stranger. The village was made up of only twenty-odd wooden houses that had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were spread about on the end of a desertlike cape. There was so little land that mothers always went about with the fear that the wind would carry off their children and the few dead that the years had caused among them had to be thrown off the cliffs. But the sea was calm and bountiful and all the men fitted into seven boats. So when they found the drowned man they simply had to look at one another to see that they were all there.

That night they did not go out to work at sea. While the men went to find out if anyone was missing in neighboring villages, the women stayed behind to care for the drowned man. They took the mud off with grass swabs, they removed the underwater stones entangled in his hair, and they scraped the crust off with tools used for scaling fish. As they were doing that they noticed that the vegetation on him came from faraway oceans and deep water and that his clothes were in tatters, as if he had sailed through labyrinths of coral. They noticed too that he bore his death with pride, for he did not have the lonely look of other drowned men who came out of the sea or that haggard, needy look of men who drowned in rivers. But only when they finished cleaning him off did they become aware of the kind of man he was and it left them breathless. Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination.

They could not find a bed in the village large enough to lay him on nor was there a table solid enough to use for his wake. The tallest men's holiday pants would not fit him, nor the fattest ones' Sunday shirts, nor the shoes of the one with the biggest feet. Fascinated by his huge size and his beauty, the women then decided to make him some pants from a large piece of sail and a shirt from some bridal linen so that he could continue through his death with dignity. As they sewed, sitting in a circle and gazing at the corpse between stitches, it seemed to them that the wind had never been so steady nor the sea so restless as on that night and they supposed that the change had something to do with the dead man. They thought that if that magnificent man had lived in the village, his house would have had the widest doors, the highest ceiling, and the strongest floor, his bedstead would have been made from a midship frame held together by iron bolts, and his wife would have been the happiest woman. They thought that he would have had so much authority that he could have drawn fish out of the sea simply by calling their names and that he would have put so much work into his land that springs would have burst forth from among the rocks so that he would have been able to plant flowers on the cliffs. They secretly compared him to their own men, thinking that for all their lives theirs were incapable of doing what he could do in one night, and they ended up dismissing them deep in their hearts as the weakest, meanest and most useless creatures on earth. They were wandering through that maze of fantasy when the oldest woman, who as the oldest had looked upon the drowned man with more compassion than passion, sighed: 'He has the face of someone called Esteban.'

It was true. Most of them had only to take another look at him to see that he could not have any other name. The more stubborn among them, who were the youngest, still lived for a few hours with the illusion that when they put his clothes on and he lay among the flowers in patent leather shoes his name might be Lautaro. But it was a vain illusion. There had not been enough canvas, the poorly cut and worse sewn pants were too tight, and the hidden strength of his heart popped the buttons on his shirt. After midnight the whistling of the wind died down and the sea fell into its Wednesday drowsiness. The silence put an end to any last doubts: he was Esteban. The women who had dressed him, who had combed his hair, had cut his nails and shaved him were unable to hold back a shudder of pity when they had to resign themselves to his being dragged along the ground. It was then that they understood how unhappy he must have been with that huge body since it bothered him even after death. They could see him in life, condemned to going through doors sideways, cracking his head on crossbeams, remaining on his feet during visits, not knowing what to do with his soft, pink, sea lion hands while the lady of the house looked for her most resistant chair and begged him, frightened to death, sit here, Esteban, please, and he, leaning against the wall, smiling, don't bother, ma'am, I'm fine where I am, his heels raw and his back roasted from having done the same thing so many times whenever he paid a visit, don't bother, ma'am, I'm fine where I am, just to avoid the embarrassment of breaking up the chair, and never knowing perhaps that the ones who said don't go, Esteban, at least wait till the coffee's ready, were the ones who later on would whisper the big boob finally left, how nice, the handsome fool has gone. That was what the women were thinking beside the body a little before dawn. Later, when they covered his face with a handkerchief so that the light would not bother him, he looked so forever dead, so defenseless, so much like their men that the first furrows of tears opened in their hearts. It was one of the younger ones who began the weeping. The others, coming to, went from sighs to wails, and the more they sobbed the more they felt like weeping, because the drowned man was becoming all the more Esteban for them, and so they wept so much, for he was the more destitute, most peaceful, and most obliging man on earth, poor Esteban. So when the men returned with the news that the drowned man was not from the neighboring villages either, the women felt an opening of jubilation in the midst of their tears. 'Praise the Lord,' they sighed, 'he's ours!'

The men thought the fuss was only womanish frivolity. Fatigued because of the difficult nighttime inquiries, all they wanted was to get rid of the bother of the newcomer once and for all before the sun grew strong on that arid, windless day. They improvised a litter with the remains of foremasts and gaffs, tying it together with rigging so that it would bear the weight of the body until they reached the cliffs. They wanted to tie the anchor from a cargo ship to him so that he would sink easily into the deepest waves, where fish are blind and divers die of nostalgia, and bad currents would not bring him back to shore, as had happened with other bodies. But the more they hurried, the more the women thought of ways to waste time. They walked about like startled hens, pecking with the sea charms on their breasts, some interfering on one side to put a scapular of the good wind on the drowned man, some on the other side to put a wrist compass on him , and after a great deal of get away from there, woman, stay out of the way, look, you almost made me fall on top of the dead man, the men began to feel mistrust in their livers and started grumbling about why so many main-altar decorations for a stranger, because no matter how many nails and holy-water jars he had on him, the sharks would chew him all the same, but the women kept piling on their junk relics, running back and forth, stumbling, while they released in sighs what they did not in tears, so that the men finally exploded with since when has there ever been such a fuss over a drifting corpse, a drowned nobody, a piece of cold Wednesday meat. One of the women, mortified by so much lack of care, then removed the handkerchief from the dead man's face and the men were left breathless too.

He was Esteban. It was not necessary to repeat it for them to recognize him. If they had been told Sir Walter Raleigh, even they might have been impressed with his gringo accent, the macaw on his shoulder, his cannibal-killing blunderbuss, but there could be only one Esteban in the world and there he was, stretched out like a sperm whale, shoeless, wearing the pants of an undersized child, and with those stony nails that had to be cut with a knife. They only had to take the handkerchief off his face to see that he was ashamed, that it was not his fault that he was so big or so heavy or so handsome, and if he had known that this was going to happen, he would have looked for a more discreet place to drown in, seriously, I even would have tied the anchor off a galleon around my nick and staggered off a cliff like someone who doesn't like things in order not to be upsetting people now with this Wednesday dead body, as you people say, in order not to be bothering anyone with this filthy piece of cold meat that doesn't have anything to do with me. There was so much truth in his manner that even the most mistrustful men, the ones who felt the bitterness of endless nights at sea fearing that their women would tire of dreaming about them and begin to dream of drowned men, even they and others who were harder still shuddered in the marrow of their bones at Esteban's sincerity.

That was how they came to hold the most splendid funeral they could ever conceive of for an abandoned drowned man. Some women who had gone to get flowers in the neighboring villages returned with other women who could not believe what they had been told, and those women went back for more flowers when they saw the dead man, and they brought more and more until there were so many flowers and so many people that it was hard to walk about. At the final moment it pained them to return him to the waters as an orphan and they chose a father and mother from among the best people, and aunts and uncles and cousins, so that through him all the inhabitants of the village became kinsmen. Some sailors who heard the weeping from a distance went off course and people heard of one who had himself tied to the mainmast, remembering ancient fables about sirens. While they fought for the privilege of carrying him on their shoulders along the steep escarpment by the cliffs, men and women became aware for the first time of the desolation of their streets, the dryness of their courtyards, the narrowness of their dreams as they faced the splendor and beauty of their drowned man. They let him go without an anchor so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished, and they all held their breath for the fraction of centuries the body took to fall into the abyss. They did not need to look at one another to realize that they were no longer all present, that they would never be. But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams and so that no one in the future would dare whisper the big boob finally died, too bad, the handsome fool has finally died, because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village.

[faintingviolet]

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World (CBR15 #27)

I have been circling Gabriel García Márquez for decades, almost too afraid to approach his work at all. On and off the reading lists his works go, a constant pendulum of my ambition or lack thereof. When staring at our Bingo squares and realizing a few short stories and novellas were likely to help my progress I went on the hunt for a few and The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel…

[englishaaaaa]

English AA2

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short tale "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" depicts the story of a little coastal town that finds a dazzling corpse washed up on their strand. Marquez utilizes many literary strategies, including defamiliarization, to convert ordinary details into remarkable ones, strengthening the topic of change and the power of collective imagination.

The narrative defamiliarizes the drowning man's stature and physical appearance by portraying him as "taller than all other men" and having "the smell of the sea about him." This exaggeration and emphasis on his imposing presence combine to provoke awe and surprise in the locals. It compels them to confront their own narrow perceptions of beauty and normalcy. The drowning man's enormous stature stretches their imaginations and inspires them to imagine a realm beyond their commonplace existence. Even awakening something in the minds of the local women

In addition to this, the village's metamorphosis as a result of its reaction to the drowning man's presence further intensifies the presence of defamiliarization as a literary device. The townspeople, who were first hesitant and wary, fell in love with the stranger's beauty and decided to give him a dignified burial. They converted their ordinary surroundings into stunning settings, preparing the hamlet for the entrance of dignitaries and tourists from far and wide. Marquez transforms the everyday town into a site of remarkable happenings and attention. This metamorphosis exemplifies the power of communal creativity and the potential to create something spectacular from the mundane.

Finally, I would like to highlight the sublime use of the sea in this piece, as imbuing the water with a strong feeling of life and vigor, the narrative defamiliarizes it. The sea is personified and sensory imagery transforms it into a living thing with its own personality, with "the soft, sweet smell of great cod" and being "bigger than any house, and hotter than any stove." The sea's importance to life is highlighted further when the villagers assume the drowning guy must have come from a remote region where the water is even more vast and kind. This defamiliarization of the water emphasizes the concept of metamorphosis and the idea that the drowned man, even in death, provides life and change to the isolated village

Overall, these aspects contribute to the notion of change and the power of communal imagination. Marquez challenges the reader's preconceptions and urges them to consider the transformational power of imagination and the beauty that may come from unexpected sources by presenting commonplace components in a remarkable light.

[kiko-pshs]

Village Society in “The Handsomest Drowned Man”

What will your town do when they see a dead body?

The short story "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" was written by Colombian novelist Gabriel Garca Márquez. The tale, which was first released in 1968 under the title "El ahogado más hermoso del mundo," is an example of magical realism, a subgenre that depicts magical or extraordinary elements as though they were regular, daily events (The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary, n.d.). 

Children playing on the beach initially mistook a dark, slinky bulge approaching the shore for a ship or a whale, but upon closer inspection, they discovered it was a drowned man. The village men brought him to a nearby house. Since it was clear he was not from their small village, they searched neighboring villages for any clues about his identity. Meanwhile, the women stayed behind and cleaned the man, daydreaming about his virility and comparing him to their own men. The oldest woman named him Esteban based on his face. When they covered his face with a handkerchief and he appeared lifeless, they all cried. The men returned and were initially upset at the women's tears, but when the handkerchief was removed, they too felt pity for Esteban. In the end, they decided to throw him back into the sea without an anchor, allowing him to return whenever he desired. As a tribute to Esteban, the village people widened their door frames.

In “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,”  cultural and societal norms, systems, and beliefs presented in the story affected the behaviors of the characters and the overall story arc; these cultural and societal norms can be examined through a sociological lens.

A. How does the setting shape the values, disposition, and thoughts of the story's characters?

B. Who/what are the powerful societal forces in the lives of the characters?

C. How do the characters’ class and position in society affect their lives?

A. The setting of the story is in a remote fishing village, most likely in a Latin American country such as Colombia (where the author is from).  The remoteness and isolation of the villagers renders them fascinated and intrigued when they encounter foreign things such as Esteban. Esteban became the epicenter of the villager's life because no one has seen someone as "strong and virile" as he is. The coastal setting also influences the traditions and gender roles within the community such as when the men were assigned to do the fishing while the women did communal and caretaking jobs.

1. Supporting line from the literary work

“Fascinated by his huge size and his beauty, the women then decided to make him some pants from a large piece of sail and a shirt from some bridal linen so that he could continue through his death with dignity.”

2. Supporting line from the literary work

“While the men went to find out if anyone was missing in neighboring villages, the women stayed behind to care for the drowned man.”

B. Societal forces such as the close-knit relations of the community and its cultural & traditional norms play a major role in the villager’s life. Due to the village being remote and having a sparse population, the villagers share a tight-knit community. When Esteban washed ashore, they all took care of his body. Traditional norms such as gender roles also played a major part in the characters' lives with the men doing the more physical and "adventurous" labor such as fishing and looking at nearby villages while the women stayed and took care of Esteban. 

1. Supporting line from the literary work

“all the men fitted into seven boats. So when they found the drowned man they simply had to look at one another to see that they were all there.”

2. Supporting line from the literary work

“While the men went to find out if anyone was missing in neighboring villages, the women stayed behind to care for the drowned man.”

C. The majority of the villagers belonged to the working class and lived in a remote village. The villagers work menial jobs such as fishing to make ends meet. This plays a major role in their lives since their access to different resources are limited. Within the community, the villagers all look up to older people to be the decision makers such as when the oldest woman named the drowned man Esteban. 

1. Supporting line from the literary work

“The village was made up of only twenty-odd wooden houses that had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were spread about on the end of a desertlike cape.”

2. Supporting line from the literary work

“when the oldest woman, who as the oldest had looked upon the drowned man with more compassion than passion, sighed: 'He has the face of someone called Esteban.' It was true. Most of them had only to take another look at him to see that he could not have any other name. The more stubborn among them, who were the youngest,”

Many sociological factors affected the character’s behavior and attitude. This can be seen by the characters following the prevailing norms in their society such as the tight-knit sense of community, gender roles, hierarchies based on their place in society, etc.

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" is a story of magical realism that presents extraordinary scenarios as if they were mundane. However, upon closer examination, we can discern the incorporation of real-life sociological factors that influence the characters' behavior, resulting in a seamless blend of the mundane and the bizarre.

Reference:

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary. (n.d.). SuperSummary. https://supersummary-web-next-production-5gmk40ctu-liftventures-dev.vercel.app/the-handsomest-drowned-man-in-the-world/summary/

[carmelo-fantano]

Man Washed Ashore

Our ability to judge humans is not inherent to our humanity, or one dimensional as to be interchangeable with everyone else. This fact is caused by our prejudice, which is caused by our completely unique experiences in life. “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” presents us with an incredibly surreal scenario which allows us to look this phenomenon straight in the eye. A drowned man from a land unknown, with features to match, washes ashore on a village.This following analysis seeks to dig deeper into the societal impacts on people’s prejudice and reactions to this inexplicable drowned man. 

For this analysis, I will separate the characters into three groups: the children, the fishermen, and the wives. The common factor which all these groups of people are forced to experience is the setting itself. A fishing village isolated from society except for nearby villages where people are frequently washed ashore into. This can explain their “conservative” view on life in the context of societal roles. It also explains their lack of shock of finding a man washed ashore. This caused them to compare “Esteban” to these societal roles as they state that, “his wife would have been the happiest woman.” and “He could have drawn fish out of the sea simply by calling their names.”

This leads me to the next point. How did these people react to a drowned man washing ashore? The women, who are identified through their husbands, compare this man to their husbands. The men, who identify with their work, only care about the fact that he is a man washed ashore. The difference comes with the children, who harbor minimal prejudice see nothing at all. To the point they barely differentiate him from a whale to be played with, “They had been playing with him all afternoon, burying him in the sand and digging him up again…”

Besides reactions to a drowned man, we can clearly see how societal expectations decided the lives of these people. Women are forced to be at home and separated from work. Men are expected to act as fishermen. And if you survive long enough, you are seen as an elder to be followed. “While the men went to find out if anyone was missing in neighboring villages, the women stayed behind to care for the drowned man.” 

Societal structure forced these people into what they are. The setting of this society gave them all their base ideals. The forceful expectations dictated their path in life. This path in life and the experiences accompanied by it dictate how they see the world. The weight of one’s society will always be carried by them.

[charm715]

A fantasy to fuel humanity’s hope

What does it mean to be hopeful? Is it a delusion to get us going, or a fine promise for a better future? In Gabriel García Márquez’ short story, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” we’re placed in a sleepy seaside town living the same day by day, until a corpse washes up on their shore, providing men and women alike with the wonder of what such life this attractive, albeit dead man had lived. This story shows humanity’s need to cling onto something perceptively greater, in order to feed and cultivate hope.

Before our story, we’re placed in a city where lives are driven by nothing but the repetitive chain of events in their routines. While the men of the village went to sea, the day they found Esteban, they did not. From the setting of our seaside location, many of the actions and observations built off of the fact that their lives as fishermen had been halted for a moment. 

When the drowned man is fished out on their shore, mistaken for a beached whale, the residents of the village scamper to think up what sort of life this man lived, coining him the name Esteban. Their thoughts and fantasies are driven by preconceived notions that were never denied or confirmed, showing their trust in what may not be true. They judged and admired based only on bias and adoration, theorizing about this man’s loneliness and the life he chased before death.

They part ways with Esteban, sending him into the ocean that he may one day wash back up again on their shore. This well-dressed handsome man affected him in ways such as that. The people of the village are of the working class and the moment Esteban is within their care, even the men take pause from work to clean the body and tend to it. Being mostly working/middle class, and they assume Esteban to be upper class, it demonstrated just how big their divide truly was, in stopping their work to admire.

We can say that common men who feel far away from their dreams entrust them to whatever objects they worship and admire, in order to inspire themselves. Coining Estevan as a rich man, dropping work in order to clean up an already dead man’s body, and disrupting the cycle of work in their repetitive town shows such… that man reaches for the stars, but needs the nudge of an idol to cement our own confidence.

References:

The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World. (n.d.). https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/423/MarquezHandsomestDrownedMan.htm

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Study Guide | SparkNotes. (n.d.). SparkNotes. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-handsomest-drowned-man-in-the-world/#:~:text=%22The%20Handsomest%20Drowned%20Man%20in,of%20a%20small%20fishing%20village.

[cola-bujo]

what i read: september

book:

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

on culture & media:

The Great Regression: A History of Kidults from Hello Kitty to Disney Weddings by Matt Alt  (essay / culture)

on sex & sexuality:

Slow Sex Long Life: Lovemaking for Longevity, A recipe from Tokyo’s Imperial Archives by Denis Noble ( essay / biology / usfw image )

Australia's Porn Problem By Patrick Wood ( article / sex )

short stories:

Body of Water by S. S. Mandani ( fiction / micro )

The Handsomest Drown Man In The World by Gabriel García Márquez ( fiction / short story )